so as he's really he looks around and tries to figure out did he failed to achieve the rank he thought he deserved like what was the problem? why was not able to move up the ranks in the way that he wanted to. it felt like he was entitled to and ultimately gates really concludes that it's his relative low birth that prevents him from receiving a position in the british military establishment that he thinks he deserves and that he's qualified for increasingly, by the late 1760s, you see gates moving into radical whig circles, radical politics for. example, while he's in bristol, he becomes friends with henry kruger, who's actually originally from new york, was, is working in bristol point for a promotion company and he's from it. kruger, who's a radical whig, they talk about kruger and others that are a of circle are opponents of britain's towards

america. isaac barry is another person that gates is friendly with in bristol while he's there there by the late 1760s. if you read what gates is writing, he's espousing pretty standard radical whig ideas fears about corruption, fears about autocar. see, he complains about the lack of social in great britain, and he views that his own inability to rise through the ranks is a sign that something larger, wrong with the british system, that corruption is preventing the preventing men of merit from rising the ranks. by 1770. there are some of gates his friends were openly calling him a republican and a democrat. so this was pretty well known by 1770 that he is he's a political radical and in particular, he chafes at privilege. you find complaints, the nobility in his letters about the aristocracy. and it's really blending strands of social and ideological radicalism. the late 1760s and early 1770s, a critic of class, class

privilege, social hierarchy, aristotle percy fears a concentration, power, corruption, the threat of tyranny. he's very much immersed in this radical whig world. by the late 1760s. his views on the crisis in america evolve over the years. initially, he's not all that sympathetic to colonies and they're complaining about taxes and say the stamp back prices in 1765 1766. he's pretty friendly with charles townsend one point famous townsend acts there passed by charles townsend. gates is friendly with him for a while, but he as he's very disgruntled by his own personal experiences and that he feels like he's being denied his own personal. i was on a qualified position within within the british military establishment. you can see these these views change. so by 1768, he actually he dines of benjamin franklin evening and franklin refers to him as a

friend of america. so by 1768, franklin thinks, he's on the american side of the imperial crisis. he argues that american are entitled to push for a total repeal the townsend act, not just a partial repeal. there's also a very revealing essay letter or a speech. he writes in 1769, which is probably a draft speech of him considering running for public office, not clear if it's parliament or some local. but in that speech, at least, he calls britain's treatment of the colony is pernicious. so he's openly critical of the of britain's treatment of the colonies thinks it's too heavy handed handed of a manner the way they're dealing with the american colonies during the imperial crisis. the person with whom gates has the correspondence about the imperial crisis and sort of most clearly espouses the radical whig ideologies of the john hale was a who's a hero from the of the plains of abraham that then had served with gates in nova scotia. and he and gates are kind of on

the same page politically, where they're very cynical about the way the ministry going and a very critical of britain's treatment of the colonies. and increasingly hailing gates are framing america as this place. liberty is kind of is the last holdout in america and go and have liberty in america because liberty is in other locations. but in america liberty is still thriving. so do that. liberty is in retreat across the world. and america is kind of its last bastion. so in 17 and 22, gates decides to move his family to america he initially is a little bit conflicted about where he's going to move, but he's really on either northern virginia, maryland ends up finding a tract of land in northern virginia that had been recommend to him by his old army friend adam to stephen. he settles in berkeley county, which is now in west virginia, because of the civil war happened and west virginia separated. and he builds a house there,

calls travelers rest. is house obviously still stands today. it is privately owned asou might be. hotel gates and not enjoy a satellite tv tv like on the on the left there but it is privately owned the woman who owns it she was nice enough let me come visit over the summer and she's lived there since 1965. such owned it for almost 60 years so she knows a lot about the house but gates builds his house right after he moves to move virginia and and he becomes immersed in virginia society. his radical big ideas are more and more accepted and one way that it becomes more like an american or more like a virginian is it becomes a slaveholder as begins purchasing enslaved people and becomes, by the standards of berkeley county, is not the tidewater of virginia becomes a fairly substantial slaveholder in that particular county. gates views in america intensified his all all of us

have been set in motion years earlier. concerns about corruption and autocracy in the sense that the ministry was really leading to liberty, eroding everywhere in the british, british world. he arrives in virginia. not long after that, the boston tea party takes place. parliament response to the course of acts which are i'm sure you all know, designed to punish massachusetts in boston for the boston tea and the gates the course, of course, of acts are really emblematic. these fears he had long harbored the british government it's sign of autocracy, corruption. the fact that liberty is in decline in great britain and he's concerned that britain is going to drag america down the same path that america which he really envisioned its last holdout of liberty, is going to see liberty erode as a result of the course of acts by 1774. he is openly predicting that war is going to come to pass. he says that he will take up arms if war happens. a he ends up serving on a local committee of correspondents.

he's at the forefront of resistance by. 1774 in response to the course of acts. there are a couple of letters in particular. gates writes, during these years, which which are particularly revealing. and unfortunately, gates did not keep a copy of most of his personal correspondence. so we kind of gather only a limited number of options to choose from of the outside. the period 1875 and 83. but there a couple of letters he writes in 1774 that that survive and are really revealing for for ideology at this point. so one thing that he wtes is a charles lee who is anoer british officer who who settles in northern virginia, really right down thetreet from gates there, basically. and they're really neighbo. so when he writes to lee he's really critical of thomas gage says his old old commander from the from french and indian war. he in disbelief that somebody like gage we thought very well of could, quote, undertake a business fit only for an

abandoned desperado or a monster in human shape. referring to gage being the military of massachusetts who's tasked with enforcing the course of act. so monster or inhuman shape, is not the most endearing term. and including that including that letter to gates, he stated, i am ready to risk life to preserve the liberty of the western world again. america as a last place where you can really find liberty. if if liberty disappears on america, that's it it's over. another letter he writes in 1774, that is also revealing is written the charles mellish, who is a member of the of commons between 1774 and 1784. and this letter he criticizes, he defends the boston tea party. there are actually quite a few americans who are uncomfortable with the boston tea party, thought it was a step too far. britain's response is ridiculous, but someone like george washington wasn't didn't really endorse the boston tea party because it was really considered beyond the beyond the bounds of appropriate behavior

of a resistance. gates, though, defends it. he actually predicts that one day north america will be in in this letter, which in 1774 says, long before common. so we're not anywhere near where we're most americans are in support of independence. but gates is predicting in 1774 and he also again attacks privilege. so in this letter, he says, however, politically and artfully princes may endeavor to distinguish from man true merit for the discerning few will ever be to mere nobility. so he never really gets past the this idea of the fundament battle corruption in british society that men of birth as opposed to men of merit. so war breaks out in an april 1775 at lexington in concord, as as we all know, he is not boozman. he's been predicting it really the course of ax news of the course of reached america in the

spring 1774 when he about lexington and concord he immediately visits george washington at mount vernon, who he knew from his time in the french and indian war. and washington is trying to put together an army he needs experienced officers. and so he advocates for gates, wants gates to get some kind of position of leadership within the new continental that is that is being created. gates is appointed adjutant of the army with the rank of brigadier general. and there was some concern in congress about gates being of english birth and there's this letter where john adams talks about it and john adams says something to the effect of like, you know, we know he wasn't born in america, we know he's an englishman. he's only been here a few years. but he he has real american merit. that's a add on to his real american merit, which i think saying that he knows it's well known that gates, a pretty strong radical in support of the american cause despite being from england and being be an englishman by birth. and you can make an argument to

you that he's the most experienced officer in the continental army when the war breaks out. he certainly has a lot more years of experience in washington. does i think charles leaves the other one you could kind of the two of them are sort of in the running for experienced officers when when the when the war begins and it's adjutant general, as you know, the chief administrative of the army, because he has all this experience, a staff officer from his time in french and indian war serving under sandwich and month in his a lot of a lot administrative experience and so he's really really dialed in the position he begins his experience his his as adjutant general in a in massachusetts soon his appointment in in 1775. during the first year of the war gates is at the vanguard of the independence movement. he doesn't think reconciliation is possible. so there are still a lot of americans into early 1776 and from certainly, i mean, the loyalists exist obviously even after july 1776, i think

independence is not the right decision. and he's a he opposes the olive branch petition in 1775. he is critical of congress when when they decide to kind of reach out to the king one last time. he's really he's not in congress, but his political allies of sorts of john adams and benjamin franklin, who are trying to push congress to get to independence. and there are a number of letters that survive or gates writes to adams and franklin saying, you need to do this and to do that. he's giving benjamin john benjamin franklin advice for how to get john dickenson on board, who is notoriously a holdout on independence. and he insists that britain can never be trusted. freedom isn't possible unless you have independence. and he he says, who cares? setting up the government, you got to get into it. get freedom first and then we'll worry about the government, which now is the best approach. but that was his approach in congress course in july 1776 will declare independence. but that point a month earlier in june 1776, he had been

promoted major general in over the course of the revolutionary war. he's going to have a lot of highs and a lot of lows, have a high at saratoga, of course where he's going to oversee an absolutely crucial victory at saratoga, capturing army and others. debate over much credit. yates deserves for that, but i think he deserves some credit for it. and then few years later, he has a big low at that la camden, which really doesn't include end his military career, but ends and his commission as a as a battlefield commander least. and despite all that. he's a true believer in the cause from the beginning of the war until the end of the war and one way that you can see about how like this radical ideology is a strand of radical ideology that that he has really lasts until the end of his life is by looking at is his post war politics. so there are nine major generals in the continental army. if you want to throw george in there as commander in chief, that's 30 individuals. now, those individuals, only one of them became a jeffersonian

republican in the early republic. and was horatio gates. he's the only one to be a jeffersonian who actually will serve in the new assembly in 1800 to to vote for thomas jefferson, to have him become become president of instead of john adams. but i'm going to stop there. thank for listening and happy to answer any questions. any questions. do you get the impression that is trying to restore or recover the prestige that he wanted from the british in the by the early mid 1770s by going with the american? i mean, is that what's motivating him, do you imagine? i think i think on every corner for that we honor like all men in the 18th century.

and gates is certainly one of them that he felt like he had been dishonored while was a british officer not not receiving the position prominence he felt he deserved. and i think as a general in the american army a way of restoring his honor and gaining honor men in the 18th century are if you read letters in 1890 that the amount of times men worried about their honor is just kind of ridiculous. it just honor honor is everywhere. i'm honor, your honor is there. so gates was very wary of his honor, as i think most men were in the 18th century and rebuilding his honor, which he felt like he had been denied while he was a british officer. i'm curious i'm glad you mention charles lee, because i'm wonder if you might comment on how the experience gates differs or a to lee to st clair or to montgomery, who are all experts or officers that emigrated to america and took up the cause during the revolution. yes i certainly know less about them than i know about gates. i know it was he's he's i think a lot more like educated and probably well read than gates is

if you read his writings he is he has a lot of latin phrases for example in his in his writings which indicates education and he's more knowledgeable about like the the political theory of why america is right than gates is. but where they are in terms of like the i think on the political spectrum is pretty, pretty similar. and it's kind of funny to think about of the biggest radicals in the in the among the leadership continental army. they're both born in england, which is kind of kind of funny in a way. yes. so lee is, i think, very similar. gates probably better read, i don't know a ton about british career as a as an officer, but i think in terms of his political ideology he and gates of lot in common lee is a is more well-read and probably knows a book of theory a lot better than than gates does. do you think his politics after the war or because after camden

he and washington had fallen out maybe even prior to that and was that reflective at all in his politics after the war and washington's presidency. yeah so i. i don't think so because right here in washington don't don't get along all that well the first year or so of the war initially long time. but by 1776 there are some tension and by by late 1777, there's just kind of a whole falling out. i don't think so, because he does become a jeffersonian but he's he's allied with washington and virginia in trying to ratify the constitution. so he's all about like james madison. let's let's ratify constitution. but then the way it's implemented is concentrating too much power. and the federal. so i don't think is a response to washington. i think there's a pretty consistent ideology throughout his life that you can follow. but i will say that i think washington's view of gates, which is pretty well documented as being being bad, has really clouded how historians.

viewed gates especially look at read historians the 19th century. they hate gates even they want historians like gates, but especially like the 19 early 20th century's they're trying to celebrate washington this great founder of the nation and, he really doesn't like this other guy. the other becomes kind of the bad guy in many ways and ways that are sometimes another. washington's criticism always unfair. but i think the way that historians have often interpreted it has probably hurt gates's legacy a bit. and one way to think about it is it's not really much named after is like, think about the other revolutionary generals. there's a ton named after them. and i think because of that falling out with washington, because camden went really, really almost as well as saratoga when camden went the other way. and because of those two factors, i think legacy has been a not as positive as some of the other generals in the army. do you suppose the egos of gates and benedict arnold might be the reason why they were at

loggerheads a lot of times both seem to be wanting recognition, which may be why gates what happened at saratoga? gates decided to take all the credit. yeah, that could certainly play a role in it. i think, you know, if you look at relationship they actually got along very well initially they collaborated very well when gates was in command of ticonderoga helped oversee the creation of the of the arnold's fleet lake champlain gates is very supportive. arnold when it comes under criticism by other officers in the army, what kind of leads to their falling, i think is more i think it's probably ego to some degree, but also different a difference of strategy at saratoga, gates is advocating a more conservative approach that is primarily about staying behind the fortifications up in the states and sending out troops piecemeal into the battlefield where arnold wants to be more aggressive. also, the the falling out arnold and gates has also suffered in that. historians have largely relied on james wilkinson as a source.

and if you i think about james wilkinson, he's a notorious liar in a lot of a lot of historians have taken what he said at face value. and there's some reason suggesting that arnold and gates had a falling out as is documented but they kind of patch things up towards the end of the battle by the second battle so depends also how much you want to believe james wilkinson versus versus other sources. but yeah, they do both have i think pretty powerful egos and i'm sure that plays a role why they don't don't have a perfect relationship saratoga for sure. so you mentioned earlier that you gates moved to virginia and he became a slaveholder and also he was a true believer the cause and given that maybe how do we know how he felt about slavery later in life and independence? yeah, i'm working an article now, the gates and slavery. so it's. so i have a good question. ask so gates initially as far as i can tell has qualms about slavery and when he's in he's in

the seven years war like and even in martinique no evidence he has any any questions about that slavery he does seem to undergo some kind of transformation and that maybe transformation is too big of a word, but he does have some questions about it as he as he goes through the revolutionary war. there's a case actually, while he's in his wars and commander ticonderoga, there's a local landholder who who claims that a woman is his enslaved property and gates is like, no, she's not. she's not your property. gates actually defends her and protect her from from being re enslave by by this man and well william gilligan did think his name was so he he does protect her but he's in command of the eastern in the 1778. there's a question about about black men who have who have served in the continental army if they're if they were slaves before they serve. do they go back to being slaves afterwards and gates is clearly uncomfortable with that idea and he's telling the massachusetts counsel. i don't really think that's the right thing to do, but it's up to you. so it's not like an radical at

all. he continues to have enslaved people, but in 1790 he's going to sell travelers rest in virginia and he's going to move to new york as his life. and i'm pretty close to her now. the madison square garden is and actually sells his entire estate to his neighbor. mark is also his friend and one of the conditions of the sale. is that all it's all the older enslaved will be freed within four and a half years and all the younger ones be freed. i think it's age 28. so you could have to double check that he includes provisions in the sale. they be freed and mark follows through on that. he does free them. and so doesn't have like a public stance against slavery but he does he does this free his own enslaved property and interesting i found a couple cases abolitionist newspapers in the 1850s using gates as an example of revolutionary generation not being pro slavery because he freed freed slaves was a gradual manumission, but

most of the founding generation didn't the slaves at all. so gates. gates has some kind of about it, but he doesn't really articulate it a way. and also, i should say he's he's supportive of of like he's very complimentary of black black soldiers in the haitian revolution that taking place 79 his early 1800s. he says they're never gonna back to being slaves they will not do that they're going to be great soldiers will they ever going back to being enslaved. thank you, karen. so you everyone we started 9:00 in the morning and those of you that are joining us for dinner, enjoy dinner. those of you there going out and exploring with friends have great evening and we'll see you in the morning.

my name is christine black and i am the exhibit's curator here at the capitol visitor center inside the us capitol. we are here in the congressional investigations exhibit in exhibition hall and this is an exhibit that speaks to how and why congress does one of its most important jobs. the constitution, and gives congress the power to legislate. but in order to do that, congress needs information on what topics it can legislate on what needs to be legislated about. and congress gets that information through investigations. so at any given time, congress

can be investigating. for example, if a law is being implemented as it was intended to or the cause of a disaster. and and it gathers information and uses that information to create new laws. one of our goals for this exhibit was for americans to be able to get a better understanding of the things that happen here in the capitol, the things done by their representatives in congress. so because investigations are one of those things that congress does so regularly, we wanted to highlight that and we wanted to show historical examples of congress investigating so that so that visitors can use that example to better understand what's going on right here in this building in the capitol. so there are four main reasons why congress investigates. one is fact finding

investigations can reveal the facts of things that happened and clarify what happened and why. another reason is oversight. so congressional investigations can reveal waste, fraud or corruption in government and can hold officials and agencies accountable to the american people. legislation is another reason why congress investigates. investigations can can provide information about new laws that could be made to benefit the american people. and sometimes they also provide information about revising existing laws as well. and a fourth reason why congress investigates is to influence opinion. so investigations can bring national attention to a subject and that can raise voter support

for an issue. and canned get more support for a a member's or a party's preferred policies. the constitution does not explicitly state that congress has the power to investigate, but the supreme court has ruled that investigate action is essential to congress's ability to legislate a power that is in the constitution. one of our goals for this exhibit is for americans to better understand what happens here in the capitol building and most investigations can follow a pattern of steps and recognizing that pattern in these historical examples here can help visitors see what's going on today. so the steps of of an investigation tend to repeat in most investigations. the first step is that something happens that causes congress to want to get more information.

it can be a disaster. it can be an event. it can just be growing awareness of a problem. but whatever that spark is, congress decides that there's there's a reason it needs to investigate. after after that happens, then there is another step. the authorization to investigate standing committees can investigate anything that's within their jurisdiction. but sometimes congress decides to authorize a special committee or a commission to take a closer look at a specific topic. the next step is hearings. and this is the step that many americans may be most familiar with. this is what a lot of americans will see on tv or on the news and hearings are those usually public events where congress gets to hear from witnesses and from experts who know about the things that happened or who know about the problems that need to be resolved.

and hearings is where congress gather that information, that they can then use. step four is report most investigations. and in a published report that is used by congress and the american public to better understand what the information was that congress gathered during the investigation. the report can lay out what was discovered and usually also includes conclusions or recommendations about what congress should do next. after the investigation. and the last step is legislation and not every investigation ends in legislation, but most of them do. and the legislation is when congress acts on those recommendations or acts on the findings of the investigation and to solve a problem or to change the law to better address a situation. congress has first ever congressional investigation

happened in the late 1700s, and it resulted from a military defeat. congress wanted to know why the military had been defeated so, so badly by a a group of native american and tribal nations. so it asked the secretary of war for papers about about the defeat. secretary of war knocks didn't know exactly how to respond to that at this early stage in the american republic. congress and the and the executive branch were still figuring out what the separation of powers means. and the secretary knox went to president george washington and asked how he should respond to congress's requests for papers. president washington considered the question and had decided that there was going to be times where the executive branch should not share